As per the subject. We're about to move, and there is no power to above the hob to install a cooker hood. Having said that, the hob is in the corner of the room, and there are windows pretty near it. If we are religious about opening the windows when cooking, are we likely to get away without installing a hood?
It's not compulsory to have a hood, it's just a fad - no one bothered with them a few years ago and now everyone has one. My kitchen has one and I'll bet it's been used 3 times in two years.
Did your mum have one when you was a kid?
The concept of failing to get away with not having a cooker cood makes little sense to me. IME cooker hoods are most useful when either boiling things like mad, or cooking meat so hot it burns. The solution to both is pretty obvious. With a window close to the cooker, I'm not sure there's really any call for an extractor hood.
NT
That's not really the point. It's something that may (or may not) improve life at home by stopping smells lingering, and removing steam which can potentially damage finish.
My mum didn't go on Usenet either.
One of the things I'm going to fix in the new kitchen is the lack of cooker hood or extractor fan. Our current kitchen doesn't have any extraction and it is a real pain - including cooking steam/smoke drifting into the rest of the house and setting off the smoke alarms. Yes we have a window near, and with that open and the back door open to create a draught we can keep the kitchen steam/smoke free. I would much rather just turn on a switch and have the place cleared automatically. I found it hard to believe that someone had installed a kitchen without an extractor fan. I assumed that they had a limited culinary repertoire.
I have a full English most mornings - part of my Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet - which generally involves a frying pan and bacon. Smokin!!
When I was a kid, my Mum had an Xpelaire in the kitchen window to clear the kitchen fumes.
Another question - did your Mum have a smoke alarm?
It all depends on what and how much you cook - but anyone who stir frys is likely to need some kind of extraction.
Cheers
Dave R
As you may already know there are two typed of cookerhood, ducted which pumps all the steam and smells outside, and ductless which pass any smells through various filters and recirculate those and any steam back into the kitchen. IMO ductless hoods are only of any real use to people who only ever heat readymeals in a micro-wave, to use as a fashion statement. The stainless looks nice, and as as they never do any real cooking it maintains a nice shine.
Supplying power to a ducted hood is usually much less of a problem than is installing the necessary ducting to carry the fumes/steam away. IOW its a lot easier burying some cable in the wall and making good than it is to satifactorily hide a run of ducting from the hood to the extractor in the wall or window.
Apart from being a fashion statement ducted hoods do allow users to position a cooker wherever they like - in a centre island etc just so long as they factor in the extra cost and aggravation involved in installing the ducting.
As it happens having a hob in a corner isn't ideal, as there isn't a natural airflow across, or out of a corner. An extractor fan fitted into the nearest window might do the trick. Unlike open windows which don't actually suck air and steam out of a room - just allow it to drift out naturally eventually in exchange for whatever's outside, powered extractor fans really do suck the steam and smells out, as you can see and smell, if you stand outside of one when in operation.
michael adams
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Why ask a question about the necessity of something, then argue about any response that doesn't fit your predetermined idea of the answer?
would you prefer it if I'd said, 'no you cannot get away with this, you must call an electrician immediately to rewire the kitchen'?
That's why she didn't have a cooker hood then, same as mine.
I was asking about the necessity compared to opening the windows, not "Should I care about ventilating my kitchen at all?". There is no argument.
Why ask why I would query your response when, after all, your answer didn't answer my question, it answered another question.
Hypothetical and irrelevant.
Not related, AFAICS.
Odd religion but who am I to judge?
Are really going to open the window in the middle of winter with it
-5C outside and a gale hammering snow onto that side of the house? Fit an extracting (not recirculating) hood or a decent sized extractor fan.
A proper *extractor* is highly desirable IMO. As you point out, plenty of things we now take for granted weren't available 50 years ago. Running condensation and iced-up bedroom windows were pretty common !
Andy C
Frying...
A ductless cooker hood will take out a lot of the grease particles which will outherwise coat everything in sight.
Steam is less of an issue if you have a large kitchen or a window nearby.
I do have a problem - the height that a cooker hood would be fitted would be abover the soffit level in my bingalow - not an impossible to solve problem but it makes it a bit harder.
The other thing is I have a solid fuel stove in the same room and technically (according to manufacturers instructions) should not have extract fans in the same room. In the real world, I would have to test the fan vs the fire with smoke matches - but it would be a bummer to find out afte rthe fact that the fan caused problems with the fire...
So for these reasons, and the fact the target problem is grease (we do a lot of wok cooking) we will be fitting a recirculating hood. But I will be choosing one where the primary grease trap is a dishwashable stainless steel mesh.
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